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SOURCE: ANI

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IAF says China should not interfere in Indian affairs.

A day after China objected to Prime Minister's visit in northeastern Arunachal Pradesh, Vice Chief of the Indian Air Force Air Marshal PK Barbora says Beijing should not interfere in Indian affairs. SHOWS:

NEW DELHI, INDIA (OCTOBER 13, 2009) (ANI-ACCESS ALL)

1. INDIAN AIR FORCE VICE CHIEF AIR MARSHAL PK BARBORA, SITTING TO ADDRESS A NEWS CONFERENCE ON INDO-OMAN AIR EXERCISE-EASTERN BRIDGE TO FOSTER DEFENCE COOPERATION TIES

2. BARBORA ADDRESSING

3. REPORTERS

4. (SOUNDBITE) (English) PK BARBORA, VICE CHIEF AIR MARSHAL, INDIAN AIR FORCE, SAYING: "So it is again I repeat here, nothing to do in raising tension, I haven't said anything about Chinese having constructed any airfields on their side in Tibet area. No I don't think they should say anything about our construction or improvement in infrastructure in the northeast or in the Ladakh area."

5. REPORTERS

6. (SOUNDBITE) (English) PK BARBORA, VICE CHIEF AIR MARSHAL, INDIAN AIR FORCE, SAYING: "I don't know why the Chinese are talking about our prime minister's visit to Pasighat, which took place I think about a week or 10 days back. But they did not say anything when our President visited Tawang...The President is the head of the armed forces, so you can read between the lines if you want to."

7. NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS

STORY: A day after China objected to Prime Minister's visit in northeastern Arunachal Pradesh, Vice Chief of the Indian Air Force Air Marshal PK Barbora said on Wednesday (October 14) that Beijing should not interfere in Indian affairs.

Beijing said on Tuesday (October 13) it was "seriously dissatisfied" by the visit of an Indian leader to a disputed Himalayan region, the latest tense exchange between the Asian giants over border areas claimed by both.

China's foreign ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu accused an unnamed Indian leader of ignoring China's concerns by visiting the state of Arunachal Pradesh.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh travelled to the mountainous state, twice the size of Switzerland, earlier this month to woo voters ahead of Tuesday's state assembly election.

Beijing lays claim to 90,000 sq km of land in the border state, that it sees as "southern" Tibet and had already expressed its anger about a planned visit by the Dalai Lama in November.

"So it is again I repeat here, nothing to do in raising tension, I haven't said anything about Chinese having constructed any airfields on their side in Tibet area. No I don't think they should say anything about our construction or improvement in infrastructure in the northeast or in the Ladakh area," Barbora said in national capital New Delhi.

However Barbora downplayed Beijing's comment's on Prime Minister Singh's visit to Arunachal Pradesh.

"I don't know why the Chinese are talking about our prime minister's visit to Pasighat, which took place I think about a week or 10 days back. But they did not say anything when our President visited Tawang...The President is the head of the armed forces, so you can read between the lines if you want to."

India's foreign ministry said its leaders were free to visit states where elections are held. The ministry said in a statement that New Delhi was "disappointed and concerned".

India and China fought a brief but bloody border war, partly over Arunachal Pradesh, in 1962, and while trade between the two has since flourished, the border disputes have never been resolved.

Mistrust remains close below the surface and appears to have resurfaced in recent months.

There has been a flurry of reports in Indian media of Chinese incursions along the border -- shrugged off by both governments -- and Delhi this month protested against a Chinese embassy policy of issuing different visas to residents of disputed Kashmir.

China also protested against the Dalai Lama's trip to Arunachal Pradesh. It reviles the Tibetan spiritual leader as a separatist and said the trip was further proof of his scheming.